


The World's Left You Cold (Let Me Warm You Up Again)

by BiFelicia



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Growing Up, Loss of Parent(s), Made For Each Other, Opposites Attract, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings, sorta - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-22
Updated: 2019-12-22
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:02:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,312
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21894835
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BiFelicia/pseuds/BiFelicia
Summary: Lena's always cold. Fortunately, Kara's always running hot.orI took 'It's so cold..." and ran with it.
Relationships: Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor
Comments: 45
Kudos: 479
Collections: Supergirl Femslash Secret Santa 2019





	The World's Left You Cold (Let Me Warm You Up Again)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SpicyCheese](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpicyCheese/gifts).



> For @spicycheeser, whose prompt was "It's so cold..."  
> Hope you like it!!

“Kara! What are you doing out here?”

She grins, tipping her head waaay back so she can look up at her father. “It’s raining, _ukr!_ ”

“It’s _snowing,_ ” he corrects, scooping her up and pulling her into his arms. Upon closer contact, he finds her to be shivering and her skin cool to the touch. “It’s freezing out, _inah_ , how long have you been out here?” he asks, cupping both her small hands in one of his large ones and blowing on them in hopes of warming her up.

Her little face scrunches as she thinks. “Less than what will make you mad,” she decides.

He huffs out a laugh. “It figures, you getting your Aunt Astra’s sense of humor.” He adjusts her a bit until she’s bundled up with him in his heavy outer robe. “See? That’s better.”

She smiles and snuggles in a bit closer to his chest. Sufficiently situated, she returns to tipping her head back to look at the sky, early evening staining it deep red. “Why does it snow?”

“It snows when the clouds freeze.”

“Why?”

“Because they get heavier when they’re frozen and they can’t stay up in the air.”

“Why?”

“Because of gravity.”

“What’s that?”

Zor-El tips forward so his forehead is pressed to Kara’s, making her giggle. “We already know about gravity, Kara. And snow. Just because you’re pretending that you’re learning doesn’t mean you don’t have to go to bed.”

She frowns and huffs at him, crossing her little arms over her chest. “Bed is _boring_.”

“Maybe so, but it keeps you healthy. You’re still growing, in your mind and in your body. You need rest to have a healthy mind. Without a healthy mind, you won’t be able to learn, little one.”

“I can’t learn when I’m _asleep_!” Kara protests, throwing her hands up indignantly.

Zor-El chuckles. “The world will wait for you to wake up,” he assures her, brushing a hand over her hair to knock away some of the snow caught in blonde curls and pressing a kiss to her cheek. “Bed.”

“Please, _ukr_? Just a _little bit_ longer?” she asks, fixing him with her best smile and biggest eyes. “It’s so _pretty_.”

He chuckles, bouncing her a bit in his arms and making her giggle. “Yes. But don’t tell your mother.”

***

She thought it’d be colder in space.

Logically, Kara knows that space is a vacuum, and there’s an absence of… everything. Sound, atmosphere, heat…

But the pod keeps her warm enough, she supposes, in the rare in-between moments when she's awake, instead of just _aware_. She wishes it were the same as sleeping, but it’s not. She’s always just… _aware_. She knows she’s stuck, knows she has been for a long time, but nothing… nothing _changes_. She’s just stuck, and Kal-El is Rao knows where, and it’s…

It’s fine.

She can barely feel anything anyway.

***

“Mom and Dad are gonna be pissed that you’re on the roof again.”

Kara doesn’t turn around, just shrugs her shoulders as she continues staring up at the swirls of snow as they fall to Earth. She doesn’t really _get_ cold, anymore, always has some weird humming warmth deep within that doesn’t seem to allow for much dampening. In fact, from what Kal-El’s told her, she could essentially jump into the Arctic Ocean and be perfectly content. It’s one of the only effects from Earth’s yellow sun that she even remotely appreciates. She spent long enough being cold in her pod.

There’s a deep sigh behind her, followed by some scraping and grumbling (several words she’s been strictly told _not_ to say) and then Alex drops down beside her, wrapped in a blanket with a knit hat pulled down over her ears. 

Kara doesn’t pay her much attention. In her experience so far, having a sister is a lot like when Yura-Du would make fun of her at school, except that Alex also comes _home_ with her. Or at least, comes to this place that Kara’s _told_ is her new home. So it’s best to just ignore her, for the most part, unless she wants to start a fight.

Which, admittedly, sometimes she does. Easier to fight with Alex than think.

But not right now. Right now, she’s fine to just sit and watch the snow.

“Aren’t you cold?” Alex asks with a shiver. When Kara shrugs again, Alex huffs and takes off her hat, pulling it over Kara’s head (possibly a bit harder than necessary) and throws half the blanket over her shoulders.

Kara eyes the blanket critically as Alex adjusts it around her shoulders so it covers her completely, sitting close enough that Kara can feel her body heat. “Why are you being nice?” she asks suspiciously.

Alex’s mouth fixes into a firm line and she looks away, scowling out into the night. “I’m not. Mom and Dad will kill me if I let you catch some weird alien flu just ‘cause you’re too dumb to wear a coat.”

Kara glares, but doesn’t shrug the blanket off, or throw the hat into the woods.

She neglects to mention to Alex that she doesn’t get cold.

***

“Kara! How many times do I have to tell you to wear a coat?” Jeremiah laughs, looping a scarf around her neck and removing his own coat to drop it over her shoulders. “It’s freezing out.”

“Apparently one more,” she snarks, but the only reaction her sass pulls from him is a crinkly-eyed smile. She huffs and sticks her arms through the arms of the too-big coat. It’s already warm, and it smells like Jeremiah.

“You’re getting better at sarcasm,” he tells her joining her as she skates aimlessly across their little pond.

“Alex is ‘helping,’” she grumbles, trying out the air quotes she’s seen her classmates do before. Almost involuntarily, her gaze darts up to his face to gauge his reaction.

He grins again. “Nailed the air quotes. Don’t do it again- Alex will probably slug you and break her hand.”

She huffs, but there’s a pull at the corner of her lips she has to actively fight. “Fine.” She shoves the sleeves of the coat up so they’re not covering her hands. “You know I don’t get cold, right? You can keep your coat.”

He shrugs with an easy smile. “Eh. I don’t mind.”

She rolls her eyes at him. Humans are ridiculous, and she tells him so. 

“You don’t have to wear it if you don’t want to, Kara. Nobody’s around to think we’re negligent foster parents,” he jokes, gliding smoothly past her. “I was just saying that it’s fine if you _did_ want to. I won’t tell anyone you voluntarily wore a coat- I know you have a reputation to consider.”

Kara ponders this for a moment. The weight and warmth of the coat aren’t _un_ pleasant. It doesn’t smell bad, it’s not itchy like some of the other fabrics she’s encountered in her time on Earth. It’s not bad

She shrugs. “I don’t mind.”

His grin widens. “Okay, Kara. I think Eliza was going to make some hot chocolate, if you want some?”

Hot chocolate, unlike the coat, is something that Kara feels _very_ strongly about, and she’s off the ice, across the yard, and onto the porch before Jeremiah even has time to laugh at her.

***

Clark throws a coat over her shoulders at Jeremiah’s funeral.

Kara throws it on the ground and storms off.

***

“Do you have everything?”

Kara huffs out a laugh as she tapes the flaps closed on the last box. “Yes, Eliza.”

“All your bathroom stuff? Backpack? Laptop? All your chargers?”

“Bathroom stuff is gonna get packed in a bit because I wanna shower, but yeah, other than that, everything’s packed and loaded up.”

Eliza frowns a bit at that. “Are you sure you don’t wanna just use my shampoo, just to be _really_ sure you remember it-”

_“Eliza!”_

She laughs at herself and throws her hands up sheepishly. “Fine, fine! I’m sorry, I just remember Alex left her wireless mouse and her good headphones and just about half of everything I reminded her to pack, last time I did this.”

“Oh, trust me, I remember,” Kara grouses. “I was flying back and forth every night for about a week.”

Eliza quirks a brow and crosses her arms over her chest and she glares down at her youngest. “Oh, were you?”

_‘Crap.’_

Kara’s eyes widen as she realizes her mistake. “I, um, nope. No, I was not, I was just, y’know, hanging out, in here, like I said I was. Definitely not flying to Boston. At all.”

“Mmhmm.”

“Wow, gosh, look at that, all packed! I’m gonna go ahead and just… put this in the van…”

“Walk, please. You’ve broken enough picture frames to outfit a Michael’s.”

“Fiiiiiine,” Kara groans playfully as she stands with the box.

Eliza worries a bit at her lip, eyes darting around the room in search of any stray socks or papers Kara left behind. She finds nothing until she opens the closet door. “Oh! Kara! You left your coat!”

The groan is sincere this time. “Eliza, it’s _California_.”

Eliza stands firm, taking the coat off it’s hanger and tossing it on top of the box. “You need to _blend_ , Kara. That means wearing a coat.”

“It doesn’t even get cold there, though! I won’t have to blend because no one else will be wearing a coat either! Who gets cold in southern California, Eliza? Nobody!”

Eliza levels her with a look that has her deflating instantly. “Maybe you’ll bump into someone who does, and you’ll be able to give them your coat. Which you’re bringing.”

Kara puffs out her cheeks and blows an annoyed breath. _“Fine._ But I still think it’s dumb.”

“Your dissent is noted. Put the coat in the van.”

********

Lena shivers under the towel, hair still damp and tangled from playing in the lake. “I d-don’t like to sw-swim,” she decides, snuggling deeper into the soft cloth.

“Oh, my little lizard,” her mother coos, running her hands up and down Lena’s arms vigorously in an attempt to warm her and laughing as Lena pouts up at her. “Always cold.”

“Because it _is_ c-c-cold, Mama,” Lena chatters. 

“It’s not cold, just cloudy. Which is good- last time we came and it was sunny you got a burn before I could even get lotion on you, remember?”

Lena frowns at this memory. “D-don’t like the sun either.”

“Oh, yes you do, you just don’t like to burn. So you’ll just have to let me put the sunscreen on you.”

“Why?”

“Because unfortunately for you, little one, you got my mum’s skin instead of mine or your d- mine.”

“Don’t like that either. Aislin doesn’t get burns.”

Her mother laughs again, pressing a kiss to Lena’s wrinkled nose. “I know, love. But you look like a proper little fairy queen, Lena.”

Lena’s brow furrows. “What do fairies look like?”

Her mother studies her, with her stormy, ever changing eyes and wild tangle of dark curls that never fails to fall over her face. “Just like you. But not quite so grumpy,” she says, dancing her fingers across Lena’s belly and pulling a loud shriek of laughter from her. “Oh you _can_ smile today!”

“Mama, _no_!” Lena laughs, squirming in her mother’s grasp, giggling helplessly.

“Mama _yes_ ,” she counters, ducking forward and blowing a loud raspberry on her daughter’s neck and kicking off another round of giggles. 

When Lena’s laughter dies down, her face sets in a bit of a frown. “Mama?”

“Yes love?”

“‘m hungry. Can we go eat?”

“In just a bit, I want to get one last splash in, alright? You want to come in?”

Lena shakes her head vehemently. “Cold,” she reminds her mother needlessly, tugging the towel tighter around herself.

“Alright, alright. You’re sure?”

 _“Mama,”_ Lena whines, lip poking out and eyes go big and round.

“Oh, you _know_ you’re cute, don’t you?” her mother mutters. “Okay, okay, stay here, then. Be back in a tick.”

Lena watches her mother wade out into the lake and drops onto her butt on the sand, content to watch her mother pretend to be a mermaid, a dolphin, a sea monster… She drags her fingers through the sand, grinning at the shell she unearths before scrunching her face at how the sand sticks to her. She scrubs it off as best she can on the now damp towel and resolves to tell her mother she doesn’t like sand, either, once she’s back on the beach. 

***

Lena’s never been on a plane before. She’d seen them, when she and her Mama would watch movies, or the time they’d taken a cousin to the airport, but as for being up in one.... Lena’s not sure she likes it. It’s too high up, and her ears hurt from when the plane went up.

And, of course, it’s cold. But then, Lena’s always cold. 

“Are you comfortable?” the man- Mr. Luthor- asks. “Anything you want, you can ask, and someone will get it for you.”

Lena nods silently, clutching her bear a bit tighter to her chest and tucking her face into the back of his head shyly. 

He hums thoughtfully, studying her with a look Lena doesn’t have a name for. “You look like her, you know. Your mother.”

Lena’s lip wobbles, and it seems to break the man out of his reverie. “Right, you probably don’t want to hear about her. I’m sorry, Lena.” His hand twitches toward her, but he freezes when she shrinks away. He blinks rapidly and clears his throat. “Right. I’ll just… give you some time. As I said, if you need anything, ask. Alright?”

Lena nods silently, looking up and him from behind her bear.

He sighs and stands, waving over a flight attendant. “Keep an eye on her? I’m going to try to get some rest. And bring her whatever she wants.”

“Yes, sir.”

“And bring me a double of the Teeling, neat.”

“Right away.”

He moves off, and Lena watches him settle at the other end of the cabin. She suppresses a shudder. Planes are too cold.

***

“C’mon, you can do it!”

Lena stands at the edge of the frozen lake, eyes wide and head shaking. “No, I- Lex, I don’t _want_ to.”

He groans, gliding smoothly past her. “Don’t be such a baby, Lena. I played hide and seek with you, you have to come skating with me.”

She shivers in the frigid November air and frowns at him. “I’m _not_ being a baby! It’s just cold!” she yells.

“You’d be warmer if you were moving around instead of just standing there!”

Lena huffs and takes a tiny step forward onto the ice. Her foot starts to slip, but she recovers fairly quickly. “Fine, I’m out here, what do you want?”

“You don’t even have both feet on the ice!”

She rolls her eyes in as dramatic a fashion as a nine-year old can, and puts her other foot on the ice. “See!”

He zips past her again. “Great! Let’s race to the other end of the lake!"

"That's no fair! You're bigger _and_ you're wearing skates, Lex!"

"Who said anything about fair?" he taunts. "But if you're gonna whine about it, then I'll only skate around the edge of the lake, and you don't have to. Better?"

She swallows thickly, but sets her jaw in determination. "Fine."

"Okay, ready, set… go!"

She scrambles, slip-sliding across the surface of the ice as she tries to build momentum. She can hear Lex jeering her, but he’s too far away to make out what he’s saying. She sets her jaw and manages to find purchase on the ice, and shouts in triumph just as the ice gives way under her feet.

_“Lena!”_

It’s cold under the ice, colder than Lena’s ever been, and it’s shocking enough that she opens her mouth even though she knows she shouldn’t, and she flails, but she hasn’t been in more water than a bathtub’s worth in a long time, and her coat is so _heavy_ and she’s just so… _cold_...

She wakes, choking and gasping, with someone hovering over her.

“That’s it, get it out, Lena,” a voice soothes, a wet hand smoothing hair from her face and rolling her onto her side as she retches up what seems like an entire lake’s worth of water. 

She continues choking, and her throat and chest are _burning_. “Ow,” she croaks, tears mingling with the water rolling down her face. _“Ow.”_

Strong hands cup her cheeks, forcing her to look up into Lillian’s face. “You’re alright,” she’s told, the tone brusque but the touch concerned. “We need to call the doctor, but you’re alright.”

Several feet away, she sees Lex pulling off his skates. “I’m _really_ sorry,” he tells her, eyes wide. “I didn’t know the ice wasn’t thick enough yet.”

Lillian’s jaw ticks. “We’ll talk about it later, Lex. Go inside and call Dr. Murray. And get the blankets out of the spare room.”

He frowns at her, seemingly hurt by the dismissal, but he does as he’s told, stomping his way to the house. Once he’s gone Lillian turns to her. “I’m going to carry you, because you’re turning blue.” Lena nods and quickly finds herself scooped up and carried into the house. “What happened?” It’s not quite as harsh as Lillian usually speaks to her.

“W-we were just pl-playing,” Lena chatters. “I di-didn’t m-mean to fall, I’m sorry.”

Lillian frowns at her. “Why were you out on the ice? I’m told the nannies can barely get you into a bath, let alone swimming.”

“Lex w-wanted to race. He said he-he’d only go around the edge, and that I could go straight across. So it was fa-fair.”

Lillian’s frown deepens, her arms tightening around Lena just a bit. “Lex said that you should go across the lake?”

Lena nods. “Because he had skates, and I didn’t.”

Lillian hums, hustling them both into the house. She sends Lex off to watch for the doctor when he starts hovering, and then drags him out again once the doctor arrives. She returns alone, face ashen, and offers Lena a wavering smile and a hand to squeeze when the doctor makes her nervous.

***

Lena is sent off to a boarding school across the ocean three days later. She’s not really sure what she did wrong.

***

“You’re sure you’ve thought this through?”

Lena glares over at Sam as she carefully packs away the most important items from her desk (namely, a photo of she, Sam, and Ruby and her pen collection). “It’s a bit late for second guessing, since the plane leaves in two hours.”

“It’s _your_ plane, Lena- not like it’ll take off without you.”

True. Still. “Why are you asking this now?”

“Because asking immediately after you broke up with Jack seemed too mean.”

Lena sighs. “We’re different people. We want-”

“-different things. Yeah, I’ve heard this song and I know the chorus.”

Against her will, Lena huffs out a laugh. “Cute. But Same, you know as well as I do that LuthorCorp can’t stay here- not after everything that’s happened. There’s too much history, bad blood.”

“Oh, no, I get that. I’m pretty sure this place is haunted, actually. But why National City? I mean, you could’ve picked… anywhere- literally anywhere- to set up shop. Why there?”

 _‘Because there’s another Super, there. Because I want to know for sure that I’m not the same as him.’_ “California’s the tech Mecca of the US. And the world. Why wouldn’t I choose it as the new home of my tech company.”

_“Lena.”_

Lena sighs. “I’d be lying if I said that having a Super nearby wasn’t a factor,” she allows. “But it’s- I don’t know. I think it’s where I’m supposed to be, right now. Does that make any sense?”

Sam contemplates this for a moment. “Nope. But I’d expect nothing less from you.” She grins as Lena rolls her eyes and wraps her in a hug. “Ruby and I are gonna miss the hell out of you for the next year, you know.” 

“I’ll miss you both too.”

“And just that when you inevitably miss all the snow and ice in a few weeks, you’ll be welcomed back with only _moderate_ harassment.”

Lena chuckles wetly and shoves at her. “Never. I hate the cold.”

***

This is a very odd day.

First of all, it’s supposed to snow- _actually snow_ \- in National City, for the first time in 93 years.

Lena figures it’s just her luck; she moves to California and brings the cold with her. When she’d mentioned this theory, Sam had told her to stop being so morose and that the weather doesn’t plan itself around her. The implication that she was being a bit self-centered had hung pointedly in the air, and Lena had dutifully ignored it.

It’s _California_ and it’s forecasted to _snow._ The entire thing seems a bit suspicious.

Perhaps her mother had gotten her hands on a weather machine and was using it to annoy her daughter… this theory isn’t without merit, and Lena resolves to look into the matter- quietly- later. 

Perhaps it’d been Sam’s implication that she was a bit self-centered (bound to happen when one spends as much time alone as she does), or the biting wintery wind, or the bored look in Frank’s eyes as he drove her to work, but when she sees a young man running around like a madman on the sidewalk and gesticulating wildly at an equally young woman, who is very obviously pregnant (and probably in labor, if the look of raw agony on her face is anything to go by), she tells Frank to pull over.

“Miss Luthor…?”

“ _Now_ , Frank.”

He does so without another word, and Lena steps out of the car. “Are you alright?”

The young man sags with relief and trips his way over to her. “Oh my god, _thank you_. Everyone else I’ve tried to talk to has just… my wife’s in labor, and we’re not _from_ here, and my cell battery is dead so I can’t call the doctor, and I don’t even know what hospitals are _in_ National City, and we don’t have insurance here, y’know, so I don’t really know what to do.”

Lena, having a fair bit of medical training, knows she’s in a bit out of her depth and pulls her phone from her purse. “Right. Okay, hop in. Frank, you take them to Memorial, alright? I’ll call and explain the situation.”

He blinks at her. “Miss Luthor, are you-”

_“Frank.”_

“Right away.”

The couple climb into the back of the towncar, thanking her profusely, and she smiles as they pull away from the curb, allowing herself a brief surge of happiness for having done a good deed for strangers. It feels good to do good, which, Lena knows, has been an ethical debate for as long as humanity has been having such things. Does altruism exist, or do we do good because it gives us joy? No one really-

A blast of cold wind hits her full in the face, chilling her immediately from head to toe. A feeling of dread seeps into her almost as quickly as the cold had. 

She’s not wearing her coat. 

Her coat, which she shrugged off in the backseat of the car (ironically, because she was too warm).

The car she just sent jetting off to the other side of the city with a pregnant woman in the backseat…

“Well, fuck.”

********

_“What do you mean you’re not coming home for Christmas?”_

Kara sighs deeply. “Look, I’m _really_ sorry, but I’m way behind on some of my work, and Ms. Grant has all her holiday stuff going on… Between that and, y’know, my _other job_ , I’m just not gonna have time to make it.”

 _“But it’s Christmas!”_ Eliza wheedles.

Kara huffs out a laugh. “You’re _Jewish_.”

A long suffering sigh. _“Fine. But Just know that Alex and Maggie will be eating all the chocolate pecan pie and Chinese.”_

“Oh, c’mon, no fair!”

_“It’s absolutely fair. How’s everything going for you? Still keeping your head up, Sunshine?”_

Kara smiles fondly at the well-worn feel of her nickname. “I’m okay. Kinda tired, but okay.”

_“Alex said you were working a lot. Too much, actually- did you blow out your powers a few weeks ago?”_

“Traitor,” Kara mutters mutinously. “I’m fine, Eliza, really.” She smiles apologetically as she shoulders her way through the crowd. “You don’t need to worry just because Alex is being dramatic.”

_“Don’t get upset with your sister; I worry about you regardless. Only difference is now I know my worrying is accurate. Try to take it easy, when you can, okay? You’ve done more than enough for a part-time superhero.”_

Kara laughs and shakes her head fondly, hopping in place to blend with everyone else at the bus stop.. “Yeah, yeah, I promise to take more naps.”

_“And eating a vegetable wouldn’t kill you.”_

“Agree to disagree.”

A fond huff. _“I knew that one was a long shot. You wearing what I sent you?”_

Kara groans as she climbs aboard the bus and scouts out an empty seat. “Yes, I got the coat. I’m even wearing it, since it’s apparently cold outside.” Eliza had gifted it to her last year and Kara had conveniently forgotten it in Midvale. She'd laughed aloud when the 'care package' Eliza sent her last week had consisted of the coat, and a sticky note doodled with a frowny-face stuck to the lapel.

_“Proud of you.”_

Kara rolls her eyes. “Gee, thanks.”

 _“I mean it, Kara, I’m really just…_ so _proud of you, honey. Always have been.”_

Well _heck_ , now Kara’s glasses are getting foggy. “You’re gonna make me all mushy in public,” she laughs wetly, swiping her finger under her eyes.

_“Okay, okay, I’m sorry. Love you, honey, have a good day.”_

“Okay. Love you, bye.”

She ends the call, and almost immediately a tissue is held up in front of her eyes. Kara’s head jerks back instinctively before her eyes follow from a perfectly-manicured hand to a delicate wrist to a smooth, fair-skinned arm, a rather elegant neck, and finally to bright glass-green eyes.

At her staring the other woman shifts a bit. “I’m sorry, it’s just, you were crying. Um, did you want a tissue? At least for your glasses? Actually, I think I have a cloth in here, somewhere...” Kara watches, transfixed, as the other woman busies herself digging around in her purse. After a moment, she pulls her hand out, mumbling a triumphant _‘Aha!’_ as she does. She turns to Kara and holds her hand out expectantly. “May I? It’s not that I don’t trust you with my cloth, I just… your glasses are _filthy_.”

Kara flushes a bit and fumbles the glasses over to her without thought, wincing a bit as all the noises and lights around hit her at once in the split second before she recenters herself. The woman smiles kindly at her and sets to work, the tip of her tongue _just_ visible between her red lips as she works.

It’s adorable. _She’s_ adorable. 

Kara clears her throat and offers the woman a smile. “Thanks, that’s really, really nice of you.”

The woman pauses briefly, and when she turns to Kara, her smile is nothing short of dazzling. “I think that’s the first time someone’s ever called me nice. Well, without being sardonic, anyway.”

Kara laughs. “What are you a supervillain, or something?”

She shrugs. “Depends on who you ask.”

Kara’s always been good about reading people, and she feels pretty confident when she declares, “Well they’re wrong, because you seem pretty nice to me.”

“Get to know me; I’ll change your mind,” she drawls. 

“I dunno. I’m told I’m kinda stubborn… you’d have a heck of a time convincing me that you’re not nice.”

Now it’s the brunette’s turn to blush. She hands over Kara’s glasses. “Here you are, nice and clean- how did you even _see_ out of them before?”

“Like I said, I’m stubborn,” Kara jokes. 

“Apparently so.” 

She sticks her hand out. “I’m Kara.”

The other woman takes it with a warm smile. “Lena.”

The bus lurches to a stop, and Kara stands with a smile. “Well, this is my stop.”

“Mine too!”

Kara smiles brightly. “Small world.”

They disembark, and to their mutual amusement start walking in the same direction. 

“So where are you headed?”

“L-Corp.”

“Oh, fancy. Are you a nerd or do you work in an office?” Kara teases.

Lena laughs, wrapping her arms around herself as they trudge along. “A bit of both, actually. I started off in the labs, but I got… _promoted_ recently. How about you?”

“CatCo,” Kara drawls. “So I’m actually right down the street from you.”

“You seem unenthusiastic,” the other woman observes. “Do you not like it? I’ve only ever heard good things about working there.”

“No, it’s just- so I’m Ms. Grant’s assistant, and she’s liable to drive me up a wall with all the crazy holiday galas and stuff this week. It’s just a l-” Kara pauses. “Are you not wearing a coat?”

“Oh! I actually sort of lost it this morning.”

“Did you leave it on the bus? Because if we hurry we can probably catch it at the next sto-”

“No, no, I… this is sort of embarrassing. I left it in my car, which is… obviously not with me.”

“Obviously.”

“But it’s fine, it’s only another block or two, and I read somewhere that a bit of cold is good for you.”

But Kara’s having none of it and shrugs out of the heavy wool trenchcoat Eliza had given her last year, tossing it over Lena’s shoulders. “It’s _freezing_ ,” she admonishes her new companion, adjusting the collar so it lays flat. 

“But now _you’ll_ be cold. Really, Kara, it’s fine.” Despite her words, she fairly burrows into the coat that’s been pre-warmed by a Kryptonian. 

“I grew up… up north. I don’t get cold very easily. “ _‘Or at all, ever.’_ “Besides, your teeth are chattering.”

And so they are. Nonetheless, “Kara…”

“Lena, just take the coat. We’ll count it as my good deed for the day, okay?”

Lena huffs at her and sticks her arms through the slightly-too-long sleeves. “Be careful with those, sometimes they can come back to bite you,” se says wryly

Kara’s brow furrows. “You think so?”

Lena laughs a bit. “Not _really_ , I just… it’s a long story. Been a weird morning so far.”

“And getting weirder by the minute,” Kara says, gesturing at herself with a grin.

“Absolutely,” Lena agrees solemnly, though her attempted wink sort of subverts the serious tone. She sighs. “Before you say anything… I am aware that I can’t wink.”

“Don’t worry about it, it was cute,” Kara laughs. She flushes pink when her brain registers what she’s just said, clearing her throat and adjusting her glasses. “Sorry. Chalk that up to your weird morning vibes getting to me.”

“I’ll do that.” 

Kara can hear the smile in her voice, but can’t quite make herself look over as she looks up at the spire of CatCo Worldwide Media. “Well, this is my stop.” Lena starts to shrug out of her coat, but Kara tugs it back up her shoulders. “You still have a little ways to walk. Hang onto it.”

Lena levels her with a look, and Kara does her best to match it. “Kara.”

“Stubborn, Lena. Very, very stubborn.” She cracks a smile when Lena huffs and buttons up the coat. Mustering up all her courage, she continues. “Besides, it’s a _really_ good excuse to make sure I get to see you again.”

Lena freezes for a moment, and Kara’s seconds away from apologizing profusely when a brilliant, slightly disbelieving smile crosses her face. “You don’t need an excuse for that.”

“Oh. Oh good! Um, what bus are you planning to take home? It’s always iffy with my... Ms. Grant’s schedule, but I’m usually done around seven.”

Lena opens her mouth, closes it, and finally says, “Seven sounds good. I’ll meet you here?”

“Great!” Kara’s unsure of how to end this interaction (not that she particularly wants to) and she says so. “Like, do we shake hands, or do I give you a hug? I’m not sure what the protocol is, here.”

Lena laughs again, and _wow_ , she’s got a really great laugh. “As long as you don’t try to fist bump me; my last date did that, and-” She freezes, a fully deer-in-headlights, ‘what have I done?’ expression on her face. “Not that this is a date! I just-”

Kara laughs and gives her a quick hug, squeezing her lightly when she feels Lena’s arms slip tentatively around her waist. “I got what you meant. My last date was… also a disaster. Not quite a _fist bump_ , but pretty close.”

“Oh?”

“Tell you about it tonight?”

Lena smiles that brilliant smile again. “Deal.”

“Alright, I’m just… lingering, now, and making it weird. Well, weird _er_. Um, stay warm?”

Lena does that cute not-wink again. “I’ll do my best.”

***

They meet up again. And again.

Three times in two weeks, actually.

Walking home (or at least to the bus) together the first time, coffee before work when they bump into each other at Noonan’s, and now a sly lunch of Big Belly Burger that has Lena delighted as they walk around for a bit.

Lena learns that Kara’s a bit of a bottomless pit.

Kara learns that Lena doesn’t need to take the bus, after all, and the knowledge that she had just to see her again fills Kara with a buzz of warmth from head to toe.

“So what’re you doing for Christmas?”

Lena shrugs, chewing her last mouthful of burger and tossing the wrapper in a trashcan before answering, “Not sure. Probably catching up on some reading and having kind of a quiet day at home; I would work, but Jess has banned me from the office.”

Kara laughs. “You should give Jess a raise.”

“Probably,” Lena agrees. “How about you? Heading back East?”

“Not this year. I mean, I’ll probably, like, video-chat with my mom and sister, or something, but I’ve got too much going on to fly back. Besides, my family’s Jewish, so we mostly just veg out or go to the movies on Christmas.”

“That sounds nice,” Lena admits. “Usually my Christmases are loaded down with galas and parties…”

“So _actual_ torture for you, Miss Introvert?”

That great laugh again. “Exactly, yes. I’m looking forward to relaxing.”

Kara’s struck with an idea. A _sneaky_ idea, to maybe test the waters on asking Lena on a date without actually having to say the words. “Hey, if you want to, you’re more than welcome to eat Chinese and go see movies with me? Or Thai, or whatever.”

_'Yes, a good and sneaky plan. Good job, me.'_

Lena cocks her head to the side with a shy little smile. “Are you asking me out? On a date? On Christmas?”

 _‘Shoot, she figured it out.’_ “Uh, I… only if you’re gonna say yes.”

The shy smile spreads into the one Kara’s learning she really, _really_ likes. “I’d love to.”

“Oh good, because I did _not_ have an exit strategy for that…”

Lena laughs and steps a bit closer, boldly threading her arm through Kara’s as they walk. “I’ll try not to give you reason to need one.” She gives Kara’s arm an appreciative squeeze. “What are you, a furnace?”

Kara grins at her, face a bit red. “Not quite.”

“Well whatever your secret is, I’m a fan. I hate the cold.”

Kara throws the arm around her shoulders and draws Lena tight to her side. “Don’t worry; I’ll keep you warm.”

(One Year Later)

“It- it’s so cold…”

Lena laughs, loud and bright, shoving playfully at Kara as she wraps her arms and legs around her like a koala. “Kara!”

“We should huddle for warmth, share body heat. Who knows how long we have? We’ve already been out here for days!”

“It’s been 20 minutes, and AAA is on the way with a tow,” Lena points out as Kara manages to pull both of them into the back seat without releasing Lena from her grasp.

“Lena _please_ , I’m clearly dying of frostbite, the least you could do is _hug_ me.”

“Ah, yes, you’re clearly hypothermic,” she drawls wryly.

Kara nods, face solemn as she opens her coat and wraps Lena up in it. “Practically dead already.”

Lena’s insincere resistance disappears as she melts into Kara’s warmth with a contented sigh. “Well we can’t have that; National City can’t go a full week without needing you to save it from certain destruction.”

Kara frowns a bit at her. “Hey, now, National City’s trying its best!”

Lena presses forward and kisses her lightly. “Of course it is, darling.” She draws back a bit and sighs. “This is _very_ inconvenient, though. The first time I’m meeting your mother and we’re definitely going to be late.”

“I mean, we can definitely get there _really_ fast…”

“No, we can’t leave the car here, I have to wait for the tow. And I’ll probably freeze to death if you leave me here.”

Kara bundles Lena even closer, hugging her with her entire body. “Noooo,” she moans pitifully.

Lena snorts at her. “Well then, Supergirl, I guess you’re gonna have to figure out a way to warm me up until the tow truck gets here…” she muses, waggling her eyebrows suggestively.

Kara brightens instantly and, using more than a few of her superhuman abilities, flips them so Lena is sprawled under her. “I think I can do that.”

When the furiously-blushing tow truck driver knocks awkwardly on the foggy window a little while later, he’s met with a loud shriek, a dull thud, and gales of laughter.

**Author's Note:**

> Merry Happy Holidays!


End file.
